It's possible too that the frequent monochrome or sepia palettes are a reference to the manga and the 1969 anime's black-and-white storytelling. Dororo is nothing if not hyper-aware of its status as an adaptation, which many viewers may be actively comparing to the original material. Each alteration is a carefully calculated risk.

If anything, Dororo is a manga that kind of encourages letting each & every adaptation change things up & go in its own direction, to some extent. The original manga was infamously cancelled, with a rushed non-ending that doesn't actually cover the end of Hyakkimaru's journey; Tezuka even had some demons fuse together so that Hyakkimaru could kill a bunch at once. The 1969 anime & PS2 video game both created their own endings to give the story closure, and both are honestly rather good. Even the live-action movie from 2007, though itself sort of unfinished (it was meant to the first in a trilogy), had its own interesting changes & wound up being experienced better as a wild reinterpretation than a straight-up adaptation.

As for this new anime, it's already obvious that Jukai & Biwa the Blind Swordsman are going to be given more importance than they were before, and the OP sequence likewise indicates that Mio, who I'm sure will be introduced soon (if not the next episode), will play a much larger role. If there's one thing all previous versions of Dororo didn't do, it was give emphasis to the supporting cast, so I'm intensely curious about what this new anime is going to do.

Without a doubt, this is a series I'll try to actually keep up with. Dororo is my all-time favorite Osamu Tezuka work, so this is an absolute must-watch for me.

Really not sure how to address this in the reviews, but spoiler[Dororo is a girl in disguise as (and who's been raised as) a boy. Her gender's not really important to, um, her, but it does prevent some guys from beating her up later in the story.

My only recommendation can be to invent a new, genderless form of the English language and use that for all your write-ups.]

Ah, this is definitely one of my must-sees that I watch the day it broadcasts. Between this, Boogiepop, Promised Neverland, and Asuka, this season has a bunch of really good, dark series that cover the spectrum.

Anyway, my first exposure to Dororo was, of all things, the PS2 game Blood Will Tell (fun fact, Blade of the Immortal's Hiroaki Samura did the character designs for that game) and I'm glad to see another anime adaptation. It definitely piles on the grimness, sparing nothing in depicting the Sengoku Jidai as Hell on Earth with buckets of blood, rampant banditry, and of course a lord selling his own son for personal gain. But it also shows there is hope with compassionate people like Jukai, Biwamaru, and Dororo.

All in all, this is definitely my favorite of the season and I look forward to more

Simple, it's a plot point later on. Lauren doesn't need to change anything, because she's experiencing Dororo with fresh eyes, and when she comes to the point when this becomes relevant, she'll make her decision as to what she'll do.

I get that the Dororo manga is over 50 years old, but sometimes it's better to let people experience a story as it happens, without worrying about spoiling things to others. Let people know nothing about it, and then everyone can deal with it when it happens.

Anyway, my first exposure to Dororo was, of all things, the PS2 game Blood Will Tell (fun fact, Blade of the Immortal's Hiroaki Samura did the character designs for that game) and I'm glad to see another anime adaptation.

I'd always thought nobody had heard of the game, but it seems like I've run into a lot of people since then who are hyped about this because they played Blood Will Tell back in the day.

I've got a friend who is way into the original manga and the game, so it's been fun for them to watch my reactions to this.

And speaking of hype, MAPPA sure has lived up to mine - I had high expectations when Masao Maruyama founded it years ago, and they sure do keep delivering.

I'd always thought nobody had heard of the game, but it seems like I've run into a lot of people since then who are hyped about this because they played Blood Will Tell back in the day.

I've got a friend who is way into the original manga and the game, so it's been fun for them to watch my reactions to this.

And speaking of hype, MAPPA sure has lived up to mine - I had high expectations when Masao Maruyama founded it years ago, and they sure do keep delivering.

Well, it's not a very good game, all told (Onimusha did the demonic Sengoku Jidai thing better) but it left an impression. It's also interesting to see how adaptations of Dororo go because, due to the manga's unfinished nature, they never have the same ending.

Being animated at MAPPA, and sharing the same director as the Trust & Betrayal OVAs already put the show on my radar, but three episodes in, its definitely one of my favorites of the season. Its especially so since I'm really going into it blind unlike The Promised Neverland and Mob Psycho 100.

Seeing the history and pedigree behind this series before it premiered made it almost impossible for me to ignore and so far, it’s been one of my favorites of the season. Dororo is quite the charming little guy and I’m really looking forward to seeing how his and Hyakkimaru‘s journey progresses from here.

Also, can I just mention how talented the voice actress for Dororo is? In case if anyone is curious, she was born in 2005. Man, do I feel old.

The first time I stumbled upon Dororo was with Blood will Tell. The premise sounded interesting then I looked up the manga and bought it. I liked it, and was super stoked when I heard they were remaking it with updated art. I'm really liking it.

Seeing the history and pedigree behind this series before it premiered made it almost impossible for me to ignore and so far, it’s been one of my favorites of the season. Dororo is quite the charming little guy and I’m really looking forward to seeing how his and Hyakkimaru‘s journey progresses from here.

Also, can I just mention how talented the voice actress for Dororo is? In case if anyone is curious, she was born in 2005. Man, do I feel old.

She and Hiroki Suzuki are primarily dramatic actors. Dororo's VA was also the Japanese dub voice for Dafne Keen in Logan.

Easily the top of my watch list. For some reason Amazon always seems to have one show I can't pass up each season, and this time around it's just.. amazing.

I agree, there is a lot about disability here, and it is interesting how it is being handled. Also, forgiveness seems to be an asset that is not common in this show either.

I can't wait to see another episode. Thank you for reviewing it!

Speaking of forgiveness, I wonder if the anime will bring back Kaname for future episodes. He's anime-original, so I'm not sure if he's just a one-use character to illustrate anime Jukai's regrets or if he'll be back later on.

Easily the top of my watch list. For some reason Amazon always seems to have one show I can't pass up each season, and this time around it's just.. amazing.

I agree, there is a lot about disability here, and it is interesting how it is being handled. Also, forgiveness seems to be an asset that is not common in this show either.

I can't wait to see another episode. Thank you for reviewing it!

I don't know full story with Twin engine, but I search production committee of this anime and looks like Twin engine is the only one who is on it. So knowing that Amazon have bought rights to this anime through them I wouldn't be surprised if all funding is coming from them.
Also I have quite interesting article about twin engine here

After three episodes Dororo is already my favorite show this season. I really like that they made him mute unlike the original show, which did a fine job with Hyakkimaru already being able to talk in episode 1, but this new take on him is very interesting

For me this was highly anticipated as I'm very familiar with the 1969 anime. I have the Discotek DVD set and was pretty impressed by the show, especially for a show as old as it is (I'm not even half its age, lol). I'm very happy I bought it and now to witness my friends watching it too in the form of a modern remake is simply a great feeling.

The 1969 anime may be very outdated, but its story certainly is NOT. I hope many more people will enjoy this new adaption!

Simple, it's a plot point later on. Lauren doesn't need to change anything, because she's experiencing Dororo with fresh eyes, and when she comes to the point when this becomes relevant, she'll make her decision as to what she'll do.

I'm really impressed at how reasonable this response is! Definitely the best way to handle this issue.

I think was a bit blinkered here by my general, persistent confusion as to what exactly ANN's "streaming reviews" are. For me, a "review" is a professional critique written by an expert in the field who has taken their research on the specific object of the review to the furthest extreme time and information availability allow (spoiler[which is why it seemed awkward for Dororo to be referred to unequivocally with a male pronoun, since obviously a reviewer would know the reveal]). Your solution suggests that the streaming reviews are less reviews and more non-expert reactions, in the vein of anime bloggers or YouTube "my thoughts on"-ers (in which case we would not expect the writer to be aware of future plot developments).

There's absolutely nothing wrong with the latter, but the streaming reviews on this site seem to fall into an eldritch between-space that disturbs me by its very existence. I think maintaining the distance between reviews and reactions is very import, because reviewers aim to talk about the quality of a thing, whereas responders aim to entertainingly communicate whether or not they liked it. Some writers here seem to be aiming to review and some writers seem to be gunning for a more visceral response; meanwhile the ability of the community to rate each episode suggests a kind of crowdsourced quality judgment (a terrible thing). Am I the only member of the ANN streaming review marathon hamstrung by this confusion?

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